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I am an equine podiatrist. Equine podiatry is science based holistic hoof care for the domestic horse. I live in a rural area and large animal vets are few and far between. Because of my knowledge and experience with horses, my clients and neighbors often call me to help. On Monday my neighbor, Samantha called needing my help. Her mini Donkey had gotten run over and he leg was broken. This is a serious thing for an equine. There was no one available to come. The only option was to get him to the one emergency clinic over an hour away. When I got there it was obvious that it was very badly broken. It was incredibly swollen and just flopped. Sam was calm and She had Rufus calm. Fortunately I had a half gallon of comfrey infusion in the fridge. I gave him some arnica, and applied the plant as a poultice and then wrapped cloths soaked in the cold infusion around it then vet wrap to hold it all in place. I then splinted it to try to keep it stable while we got him in the back of my car. Although he is a mini, he was quite heavy and we were unable to lift him. Just in time my other Neighbors were driving down the road and we hailed them down. The four of us, with the help of a make-shift sling, were able to get him into the back of the car. By the time he got to the vet, the swelling was almost completely gone. They x-rayed him and the young inexperienced vet said he should probably be euthanized. Then the senior Vet came in. She said although the break was bad (broken in two places), because he was small he could be put in a cast. So they set it and cast him. They expected that he would have to stay for at least a week, but he is doing so well that he gets to come home tomorrow! I attribute the speed to Comfrey. Sam has been going to see him twice a day and giving him comfrey, oat straw and nettles in with his feed. He will have a long recovery but so far things look very good!

He is in a full cast for now so no poltices or compresses on the area but She is feeding comfrey, oatstraw and nettles. He is doing amazingly well. The ride home was hard on him but he is bright eyed, engaging with everyone who visits and beginning to put weight on it when he walks around. None of the vets around here have any experience with what the plants can do. It will be fun to see their surprise when they take the next x-ray!

Lady Alinor wrote:I have heard stories of folks dribbling Comfrey tincture down into the cast.

I had thought of that, but my gut says not to. He is doing so well! It is truly amazing. He is in a contained area, and away from his herd, but handling it well. He has no problem moving around and can lie down and get back up. I am really curious to hear what the vet has to say at his next visit1